Michael Wood's Story of England

Original version

BBC Four

BBC 4

BBC HD

BBC Two

No Master Brand

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

BBC Two England

England

BBC Two Scotland

Red Button One

BBC Four HD

Michael Wood

Michael Wood's Story of England: Episode 3: The Great Famine and the Black Death

Documentaries

The Great Famine and the Black Death

Episode 3

Episode 3: The Great Famine and the Black Death

BBC Four - Michael Wood's Story of England, The Great Famine and the Black Death

In 14th-century Kibworth, a terrible famine is followed by the Black Death.

Michael Wood's portrait of one village across the whole of English history reaches the 14th century, when a terrible famine is followed by the Black Death.

Groundbreaking series in which Michael Wood tells the story of one place throughout the whole of English history. The village is Kibworth in Leicestershire in the heart of England - a place that lived through the Black Death, the Civil War and the Industrial Revolution and was even bombed in World War Two.  

Wood's fascinating tale reaches the catastrophic 14th century. Kibworth goes through the worst famine in European history, and then, as revealed in the astonishing village archive in Merton College Oxford, two thirds of the people die in the Black Death.  

Helped by today's villagers - field walking and reading the historical texts - and by the local schoolchildren digging archaeological test pits, Wood follows stories of individual lives through these times, out of which the English idea of community and the English character begin to emerge.

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

Factual: History

Michael Wood tells the story of a small village throughout the whole of English history.

Michael Wood tells the story of one place, the Leicestershire village of Kibworth, throughout the whole of English history.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Michael Wood's Story of England

Episode 3: The Great Famine and the Black Death

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Series

BBC Four

About BBC Four